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Lee Tiedrich brings together an undergraduate education in electrical engineering and over twenty-five years of legal experience to counsel clients on a broad range of intellectual property and technology transactions matters. She co-chairs Covington's global, multidisciplinary Artificial Intelligence ("AI") initiative. Ms. Tiedrich has been recognized in Legal 500 as a Leading Lawyer for patent licensing and transactions and has been recommended in Legal 500 for her “ability to identify critical issues” and her “extremely strong work ethic.” She is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and serves on the Board of Visitors of Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering.

Clients turn to Ms. Tiedrich for advice in a broad range of complex intellectual property and technology transaction matters and policy matters, which often involve cutting-edge technologies (such as AI, Internet of Things, and augmented reality) and require innovative legal and business solutions. She has guided clients through intellectual property and technology matters arising in numerous mergers and acquisitions, investment transactions, joint ventures, and securities offerings. She has extensive experience negotiating complex intellectual property acquisition, licensing, and development agreements, including software and online services agreements, patent licenses, content and media agreements, cloud services and data agreements, branding and trademark license agreements, intellectual property settlement agreements, hardware development agreements, and agreements to obtain rights to intellectual property developed by universities or with government resources. She also counsels clients on strategies for maintaining, protecting, and expanding their intellectual property assets and for navigating privacy and data security matters in the commercial context and in connection with AI governance matters.

Her work spans several industries, including ehealth, fintech and financial services, “big data and analytics,” communications and media, life sciences, consumer products, autonomous vehicles/mobility, and energy. She has experience counseling both private and public companies, as well as private equity and venture capital firms in their investments. She has written and spoken on topics such as artificial intelligence, IoT, global innovation, licensing, “big data,” and eHealth.

Mexichem, S.A.B. de C.V. on its $1.895 billion acquisition of an 80 percent stake in Netafim, Ltd., the world’s largest irrigation company, from private equity and buyout firm Permira, Kibbutz Magal and Kibbutz Hatzerim.

Famy Care Limited in the $750 million sale of its women's health business to Mylan Laboratories Limited.

UCB in the sale of its specialty generics division to Lannett and, previously, the announced sale to Advent International and Avista Capital Partners.

QUALCOMM in its $2.5bn recommended cash offer for CSR plc and in the purchase of assets of a UK-based 450 MHz handset design and manufacturing company, including the related intellectual property.

Legg Mason, Inc. in its investment in Precidian Investments LLC, a leader in the creation of innovative financial technology products, specializing in exchange-traded fund and mutual fund development, and associated trading and pricing technologies.

Thomson Reuters Corporation in the divestiture of its Healthcare business to affiliates of Veritas Capital for $1.25 billion and in its acquisitions of Information Holdings Inc. (NYSE: IHI) and Solucient.

BBVA in its acquisition of Simple Finance Technology.

Meda AB in its acquisitions of Acton Pharmaceuticals and of MidNite, an OTC sleep aid product.

Grupo Sura, the Colombian financial group, and its affiliate AFP Integra S.A. in the $516 million acquisition of 50% of AFP Horizonte S.A., the Peruvian pension fund, from BBVA.

Magticom Ltd., the leading mobile operator in the Republic of Georgia, in its acquisition of retail and corporate ISP cable assets from Caucasus Online LLC.

HaloIPT on Qualcomm’s acquisition of its automotive wireless charging technology.

National Geographic Society in the sale of its Hampton Brown school publishing business to Cengage Learning, Inc.

King Pharmaceuticals in its $3.6 billion merger with Pfizer.

Medarex in its $2.4 billion merger with Bristol-Myers Squibb.

OptiSolar in its $400 million sale of it project development business to First Solar, Inc.

Numerous clients in stand-alone intellectual property and technology agreements, including license agreements, collaboration and development agreements, reseller and supply agreements, and agreements for marketing and exploiting technology-based products and services.

Procter & Gamble in its sale of ThermaCare, a leading over-the-counter heatwrap, to Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, a division of Wyeth.

Gleacher & Company, Inc. in the sale of substantially all of the assets of its ClearPoint subsidiary to Homeward Residential, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Ocwen Financial.

Charlesbank Capital Partners in its formation of Blacksmith Brands, which purchased the Efferdent, Luden's and PediaCare brands from Johnson & Johnson, and subsequent sale of Blacksmith Brands to Prestige Brands.

The UK-based Dunlop Slazenger Group in its disposition of the Maxfli golf brand and related assets to Taylor Made Golf Company.

MidFirst Bank in its acquisition of Steele Street Bank & Trust.

Illumina in its acquisition of NextBio.

Snow Phipps Group in its acquisition of Acentia (formerly ITSolutions).

XLHealth Corporation, a provider of health care services, in its acquisition of Leprechaun, LLC.

Another major consumer products company in its strategic acquisition and licensing of patents and other intellectual property important for its next generation products.

TouchTunes, the largest out-of-home digital entertainment network, in its acquisition of White Rabbit Game Studio, creators of PlayPorTT and developers of portable, on-location game systems.

AudioCodes, Inc., an Israeli telecommunications equipment manufacturer, in its US acquisitions of two venture-backed companies: Nuera Communications and Netrake Corporation.

New Media Distribution, a Russian-language television programming production and content company, in an equity investment by a Russia-focused private equity fund.

National Geographic Society in the formation and launch of the domestic and international versions of the National Geographic Channel in partnership with NBC and Fox.

At the invitation of the UAE Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, Lee Tiedrich participated in the Global Governance of AI Roundtable ("GGAR") and World Government Summit held in Dubai. The GGAR brought together governmental, business, civil society, academic, and other leaders in AI from around the globe to discuss frameworks for implementing AI. Also at the ...

Lee Tiedrich spoke with Legaltech News regarding a recent survey on the legal and regulatory risks of artificial intelligence. Ms. Tiedrich suggested clients take a global perspective when assessing what laws are relevant to a particular AI program. She notes that artificial intelligence is not limited to a single jurisdiction, and clients should seek advice on ...

Lee Tiedrich's comments from the U.S.-China AI Tech Summit are highlighted in this Law360 article providing a roundup of the top corporate news stories from the past week. According to Tiedrich, there’s a recognition that the new technology brings new legal challenges.

Lee Tiedrich recently spoke at the U.S.-China AI Tech Summit to discuss "AI in the Law" and is quoted in a Law360 article. According to Tiedrich, there is a recognition that the new technology brings new legal challenges. “One issue that’s been getting a lot of attention in the United States is whether and to what extent AI applications need to provide ...

Lee Tiedrich recently spoke at the U.S.-China AI Tech Summit and is quoted by The Recorder in an article examining the pros and cons of introducing AI into the judicial process. According to Tiedrich, AI in the justice system also implicates questions of transparency and intellectual property. In cases where it’s alleged that AI perpetuates hiring discrimination ...

WASHINGTON—Covington advised Elbit Systems Ltd. in its $120 million acquisition of the assets and operations of the privately owned U.S. company, Universal Avionics Systems.
Elbit Systems is an international high technology company engaged in a wide range of defense, homeland security, and commercial programs throughout the world.
Universal Avionics is a ...

WASHINGTON—Covington represented Aristocrat Leisure Limited in its $990 million acquisition of Big Fish Games, Inc. This acquisition expands Aristocrat’s Social Gaming business into new game genres.
Aristocrat is a global provider of gaming solutions. It offers a diverse range of products and services including electronic gaming machines and casino management ...

NEW YORK—Covington is advising MagtiCom Ltd., the leading mobile operator in the Republic of Georgia, on its definitive agreement to acquire retail and corporate ISP cable assets from Caucasus Online LLC. The deal is expected to close on or around August 1, 2016.
Following the successful conclusion of the transaction, MagtiCom will be the first and only operator ...

WASHINGTON, DC, May 15, 2015 — Covington represented Public Pension Capital, LLC in the formation of a strategic partnership with and investment in Kramer Van Kirk Credit Strategies LP, a Chicago-based manager of collateralized loan obligations with more than $4 billion in assets under management.
Public Pension Capital also acquired a stake in KVK Technology ...

NEW YORK — Covington advised the underwriters in the $76.8 million initial public offering of common stock of Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. Shares of Cidara trade on the NASDAQ Global Market under the ticker “CDTX.”
Cidara is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of anti-infectives for treatment of diseases ...

Healthcare providers, health plans, and other entities are increasingly utilizing cloud services to collect, aggregate, store and process data. A recent report by IDC Health Insights suggests that 80 percent of healthcare data is expected to pass through the cloud by 2020. As a substantial amount of healthcare data comprises “personal information” or ...

NEW YORK, June 26, 2014 — Covington & Burling advised MidFirst Bank in connection with its agreement to acquire Steele Street Bank. The acquisition, expected to close in the first quarter of 2015, is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval and other customary conditions.
MidFirst, one of the five largest privately owned banks in the United States, is a ...

NEW YORK, April 28, 2014 — Covington & Burling represented Forest Laboratories in a definitive agreement to acquire Furiex Pharmaceuticals, a drug development collaboration company, for up to $1.46 billion.
The acquisition of Furiex expands Forest’s offerings in gastroenterology. Forest agreed to pay $95 per share in cash, or approximately $1.1 billion in the ...

NEW YORK, February 20, 2014 — Covington & Burling represented Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, an international financial group based in Spain, in its acquisition of financial technology company Simple.
The acquisition is part of BBVA's strategy to lead the technology-driven change that is transforming the financial services industry. According to Francisco ...

WASHINGTON, DC, December 4, 2013 — Covington & Burling advised Chemtrade Logistics Income Fund in its $860 million acquisition of General Chemical Holding Company. The acquisition will expand Chemtrade’s North American water treatment chemicals and sulfuric acid businesses into new geographic areas and broaden the company’s specialty chemicals product portfolio. ...

WASHINGTON, DC, June 7, 2013 — The Legal 500 U.S. has ranked Covington & Burling as a top tier firm in six practice areas and recognized 21 individual attorneys as “Leading Lawyers” in the directory’s 2013 edition. Additionally, Legal 500 “recommended” 38 Covington practice areas and 148 Covington lawyers. The six Covington practices given the top tier ranking ...

NEW YORK, April 23, 2013 — Covington & Burling advised Sura Asset Management S.A. and AFP Integra S.A., affiliates of the Latin American financial group Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana, in a joint acquisition with Profuturo AFP S.A., an affiliate of The Bank of Nova Scotia, of 100 percent of the shares of AFP Horizonte, S.A., the Peruvian pension fund manager, ...

LONDON, 11 December, 2012 — Covington & Burling acted as legal advisers to Meda in its acquisition of MidNite, an OTC sleep-aid product. Meda is a leading international specialty pharmaceutical company.
The Covington team was led by partner Peter Laveran with assistance from Karen Brooks. The team also included Philip Young and trainee Philippe Bradley ...

WASHINGTON, DC, August 14, 2012 — Covington & Burling LLP has received a top tier ranking in six practice areas and 18 individual attorneys are named “Leading Lawyers” in the recently released Legal 500 US 2012 edition. Additionally, Legal 500 US also “recommended” 36 Covington practice areas and 123 Covington lawyers.
The six Covington practices given the top ...

NEW YORK, April 23, 2012 — Covington & Burling represented Thomson Reuters in a definitive agreement to sell its Healthcare business to an affiliate of Veritas Capital for $1.25 billion in cash.
The sale, expected to close in the next few months, is subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of ...

LONDON, 21 November, 2011 — Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) has acquired substantially all of the technology and other assets of HaloIPT, a leading provider of wireless charging technology for electric road vehicles. Covington & Burling LLP advised HaloIPT on the transaction. HaloIPT's financial adviser was Innovator Capital, the London based cleantech ...

WASHINGTON, DC, June 29, 2011 — Covington & Burling LLP represented National Geographic Society in its agreement with Cengage Learning to sell its digital and print school publishing unit and to extend additional rights to use the National Geographic brand in higher education and library markets worldwide.
National Geographic’s school publishing unit includes ...

WASHINGTON, DC, June 10, 2011 — Covington & Burling LLP received 92 individual mentions and 32 practice mentions in the Legal 500 US 2011 edition. Legal 500 reviews the strengths and strategies of law firms in more than 90 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, North and South America, and the Caribbean.
Here are the Covington lawyers and practices ...

NEW YORK, January 6, 2011 — Charlesbank Capital Partners has announced that it has acquired Peacock Engineering Company, LLC, a leading provider of outsourced food packaging and supply chain management services to many of the nation’s largest branded consumer products companies, from Behrman Capital. The terms of the transaction, which closed on December 21, ...

NEW YORK, October 12, 2010 — King Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer announced today that they have entered into an agreement for Pfizer to acquire all of the outstanding stock and stock equivalents of King for $14.25 in cash per share, or aggregate consideration of $3.6 billion. Covington & Burling LLP advised King on the transaction.
King is a vertically integrated ...

NEW YORK, September 21, 2010 — Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc. has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the stock of Blacksmith Brands Holdings, Inc., a portfolio company of Charlesbank Capital Partners, for $190 million in cash. Covington & Burling LLP advised Charlesbank on the transaction, which is expected to close in ...

WASHINGTON, DC, June 23, 2010 — Covington & Burling LLP received 85 individual mentions and 23 practice mentions in the Legal 500 US 2010 edition. Legal 500 reviews the strengths and strategies of law firms in more than 90 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, North and South America, and the Caribbean.
Here are the Covington lawyers and practices ...

NEW YORK, NY, July 22, 2009 — Medarex and Bristol-Myers Squibb announced today that Bristol-Myers Squibb entered into an agreement for Bristol-Myers Squibb to acquire all of the outstanding stock and stock equivalents of Medarex for $16.00 in cash per share, or aggregate consideration of $2.4 billion. Covington & Burling LLP advised Medarex on the ...

NEW YORK, NY, July 16, 2009 — Snow Phipps Group, LLC, a private equity firm, announced on July 7 that it had completed the acquisition of ITS Holding Company (ITSolutions), a leading information technology services provider to US government civilian, national security, and intelligence agencies, along with Mr. Stefan Lalos, co-founder and CEO of ITSolutions. ...

NEW YORK, NY, April 10, 2009 — First Solar, Inc. has announced the completion of its previously announced acquisition of OptiSolar’s project development business. Covington & Burling LLP advised OptiSolar on the deal.
OptiSolar is a California-based independent power producer committed to delivering clean, competitively priced electricity to the power grid from ...

NEW YORK, NY, July 17, 2008 — Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, a division of Wyeth, announced that it signed an agreement to purchase ThermaCare, a leading over-the-counter heat wrap, from Procter & Gamble. Covington & Burling LLP advised Procter & Gamble on the transaction. Introduced in the United States in 2002, ThermaCare Heat Wraps use heat therapy to relieve ...

NEW YORK, NY, July 9, 2008 — Coty Inc. has completed its previously announced sale of the Orajel brand and other brands of Del Pharmaceuticals to Church & Dwight Co., Inc. for $380 million in cash. Covington & Burling LLP advised Coty on the transaction. Coty is the world’s largest fragrance company with annual sales in excess of $3.5 billion. Church & Dwight ...

NEW YORK, NY, March 3, 2008 — Pfizer Inc. announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Serenex Inc., a privately held biotechnology company. Covington & Burling LLP advised Pfizer on the transaction. Pfizer, the world’s largest research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company, discovers and develops innovative medicines to treat and help ...

NEW YORK, NY, January 2, 2008 — Pfizer announced on December 31 that it has completed the cash tender offer for the outstanding shares of common stock of Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc., a publicly-held biopharmaceutical company specializing in vaccine adjuvant technology and a new class of immunomodulatory drug candidates designed to fight cancers, allergy and ...

NEW YORK, NY, November 1, 2007 — Mainfreight Limited has completed its acquisition of AMEX-listed Target Logistics, Inc. in an all-cash transaction. Covington & Burling LLP advised Mainfreight on the transaction. Mainfreight is a global supply chain logistics provider with approximately 3,000 team members based in operations in New Zealand, Australia, Asia, and ...

NEW YORK, NY, October 12, 2007 — TouchTunes Music Corporation, the largest on-location digital entertainment network, has announced its acquisition of White Rabbit Game Studio, creators of PlayPorTT and developers of portable, on-location game systems. Covington & Burling LLP advised TouchTunes on the transaction. White Rabbit executives and employees will form ...

NEW YORK, NY, April 16, 2007 — The Thomson Corporation closed the sale of its Thomson Medical Education business to ABRY Partners, a Boston based private equity firm. Covington & Burling LLP advised The Thomson Corporation on the transaction. The Thomson Corporation is a leading global provider of integrated information-based solutions to business and ...

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1"?><st1:state w:st="on">WASHINGTON</st1:state>, D.C., September 29, 2006 — <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Covington</st1:place></st1:city> represented Hanesbrands Inc. in its recent spin-off from the Sara Lee Corporation. Hanesbrands began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol HBI on September 6. ...

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Covington & Burling LLP operates as a limited liability partnership worldwide, with the practice in England and Wales conducted by an affiliated
limited liability multinational partnership, Covington & Burling LLP, which is formed under the laws of the State of Delaware in the United States
and authorized and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority with registration number 77071.
The practice in Johannesburg is conducted by an affiliated limited company Covington & Burling (Pty) Ltd. The practice in Dublin Ireland is through a general affiliated Irish partnership, Covington & Burling and authorized and regulated by the Law Society of Ireland with registration number F9013.